Wine Law

19 those powers to issue sanctions, which is but clear evidence of the increasingly public nature of designations. – I believe that what is most consequential in relation to the public-law nature of designations of origin is the fact that the right to the exclusive use thereof is conditioned to the future holder of that right entering into the scheme, one which has been instituted on a case-by-case basis by the state. I understand that the fact that a producer of a given product, based in the protected geographical area, may not be allowed to market that product under a designation can only be explained if that legal status is governed as publicly protected one. – In line with the previous assertion, what legal nature should then each governing body of any given designation have? Although this is a highly contested issue and one on which Spanish law — national and regional — shows a degree of ambivalence (theoretically, the management may be entrusted to public or private bodies), I am of the opinion that the right way forward would be conceding its public-law nature, as it is consistent with that of sector authorities, instituted by law and not arising, strictly speaking, out of their members’ freedom to enter into agreements. We need to point out that it is this solution that current legislation is steering towards, so that most Regulatory Councils are to assume this type of public-law Authority) – Which jurisdiction will be qualified to hear disputes arising out of the management of the designation authority that would involve the state or a regional authority in some shape or form, or regarding, specifically, supervision and penalising powers? It is patent that it should the administrative jurisdiction, notwithstanding governing bodies finding themselves under private-law regulations in those areas of the operation where they do deal with the state or regional or local authorities. – Which legal status do protected geographical names have? This not being a straightforward and settled issue, we will point out that both Act 6/2015, for cross-region geographical designations, and regional governments’ regulations governing designations under their remit, view protected names as public interests. Whether this